With operations in Chile and Peru, Mexico becomes the third country in the region where the Chilean startup expands its AI-based software. This allows the exploration teams of companies in the mining sector to process databases and information generated during the exploratory process, and thus quickly and safely identify areas with high mineralization potential, while reducing cost and time in the process.
Mexico is a country with a vast and recognized mining tradition, silver being its star mineral, with which they have been world leaders in production for more than 13 years. In fact, in 2021, around a quarter of the silver produced in the world was contributed by Mexico.
But the Aztec country lives not only on silver. In 2021 they were the eighth gold producer in the world and the second in Latin America, only behind Peru. In the same year, it ranked fifth worldwide in zinc production and tenth place in copper production.
For this reason, Mexico has always been in the crosshairs of Mineral Forecast, a Chilean technology company founded nine years ago with the desire to democratize the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in mining exploration. Whether due to its vast mining tradition, its history, or the age of its deposits, Chileans took the challenge of entering this new market seriously. They had already done it before in Chile, their native country, and recently in Peru, where they have been operating for close to a year.
After some initial meetings to define the scope of work, First Majestic decided to use Mineral Forecast software at one of its largest silver and gold mines: the San Dimas operation, located in Durango, Mexico. “We seek to increase the discovery rate in exploration and keep up with new tools that keep us competitive in an increasingly digital age. San Dimas is a mine with more than 250 years of operation and a global reference for low sulphidation deposits. We want to keep up to date, incorporating new tools that contribute to making the most of historical data and those that we will obtain with the support of Mineral Forecast”, says Gonzalo Mercado, VP of Exploration and First Majestic Technical Services.
For his part, Javier Muñoz, co-founder and CEO of Mineral Forecast, comments that “arriving in Mexico was part of our internationalization plan, and working with First Majestic Silver is a great start. We have been working in Chile and Peru for a few years, and now the opportunity arises in this attractive country, where we have been advancing conversations with other companies in order to increase our presence in the region.”
The state of Durango is one of the largest and most emblematic Mexican states in terms of mining and exploration. First Majestic's San Dimas operation has a long mining history dating back to the 18th century. The work agreement for this mine with Mineral Forecast is contemplated for this year and consists of supporting exploration activities in two stages. The first, which has now been completed, was to test the reliability of the tool in an area of particular importance to the customer. After successfully testing the technology, the second stage is currently underway: expanding the technology to the entire district, learning from all available information, and identifying targets and trends in mineralization," explains Muñoz.
The co-founder of Mineral Forecast assures that through this project they seek to contribute to the process of implementing new technologies and support the way decisions are made regarding exploration. In short, building various models, using machine learning algorithms based on all the geoscientific information and geological understanding of the First Majestic exploration team to support the generation, ranking, and quantitative prioritization of targets.
For these objectives, Mineral Forecast has assigned a team of professionals that permanently accompanies the service: geologists, full-stack developers, and specialized data scientists, with experience in different types of deposits, commodities, and countries. “We have focused on providing a service to function 100% remotely, and for that, we have regular meetings and training. In the event that the client requires our presence in the field, we are 100% available, but so far the web platform and its monitoring work without problems remotely" explains Muñoz.
About First Majestic
First Majestic is a publicly traded mining company focused on silver and gold production in Mexico and the United States. The company currently owns and operates the San Dimas Silver/Gold Mine, the Santa Elena Silver/Gold Mine, the La Encantada Silver Mine, and the Jerritt Canyon Gold Mine.
About Mineral Forecast
Mineral Forecast is a Chilean startup co-founded 9 years ago by civil engineers Javier Muñoz and Arturo Rochefort with the desire to democratize the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in mining exploration. It offers the mining industry AI-based software, which allows the exploration teams of the different companies in the mining sector to process databases and information generated during the exploration process, and thus quickly and safely identify sectors with high potential for mineralization, reducing at the same time cost and time in the process.
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